CLAY
"Clay, I really must hold you on anything you have to say." Clay rolled his eyes as he began to speak, interrupted by Alpha Rylee. Rylee growled, his voice carrying through the small circle of Supernaturals gathered. "Feli—Kasparov Dawn and Leslie Towers are not even here to help decide any decisions. Plus, I'm only filling in because Alpha Arlis just met his mate." Rylee wanted all the head supernaturals to be there and Clay couldn't make that happen. Not for what he had in mind.

The group of five mumbled agreement, and Clay nodded, understanding where they were coming from but at the same time not caring. "I wish to withhold this information from them." He held is breath as supernaturals stood up in anger, shouting rude remarks in his way. "I wish to hold this information from both Hunters and Witches alike."

A woman stood up, flaming red hair like fire, and gestured to Clay. "Let the man speak!" She said, sitting next to her son, the fae Prince.

Clay nodded respectfully to Seralphira, Queen of all fae. Clay always liked her, she was more open minded than the rest of his fellow supernaturals.

"Thank you, Queen Seralphira." He smiled kindly at her, playing everyone into thinking he was just a humble man. "I have come to you on matters of grave urgency. And I would love to have your silence not only in the room, but outside. Please, I beg, do not relay this information to anyone outside of this conference."

Everyone raised their hand, swearing secrecy and it made Clay's stomach tingle with joy. Maybe his plan would work after all.

"I have to ask, do any of you have signs of the prophesy coming to truth?" Clay asked.

To Clay's surprise Alpha Rylee stood up, raising his eyebrows and everyone in the room sat shocked into silence.

"Alpha Arlis's mate is a human. Er— was. He's changing her into a werewolf in a couple days. Constance Dawn took care of it." Rylee assured.

"Make sure she doesn't turn. Not fully. Hybrid is fine." Clay ordered, and everyone gave him a dumbfounded look. "I understand you all must be confused—"

"You bet your ass I am." Queen Laurelei, beautiful on the outside ugly on the inside, snarled at Clay. She was, as Clay called, an abomination. Mermaids, nasty creatures. It made Clay hate her just for existing.

"My son thinks he is smart, that he's played me. But he has fallen in love with a Hunter." Clay smirked, thinking about all the ways he could use this to his advantage. "And I want a War of the Species." He added to the rumor that he was in fact mentally insane.

The Mermaid leaned back in her chair, shrugging. "Doesn't affect me."

"Well it does affect me, why would you want another WOTS!? Are you insane!?" Alpha Rylee stood up so fast it knocked his chair down.

Clay nodded. "Mental. But listen. We have suffered at the hands of the Hunters for far too long. It's always the Hunters that kill us, it's always them who decide who lives and who dies, and quite frankly I'm sick of it."

Nobody seemed to agree and Clay realized this was going to be harder than he thought.

"They do that because it's their job." Queen Seralphira replied. "They protect us."

Clay stomped his foot and spun in a circle. "But it's not right!"

"You're only saying this because the Hunters attack your species." Clay hated the disgusted looks Rylee was sending him. "Allowing another WOTS just to kill of the Hunters has to be your worst idea yet."

"Hunters have taken everything. They speak of protection and laws, but maybe it's time for the Humans to die! They are destroying our earth and the Hunters protect them! They control us. Rylee, why can't you agree? Didn't Hunters kill your parents?" Clay asked in a gentle manner.

Alpha Rylee nodded solemnly. "They shouldn't have broken Hunter's Law."

Clay nodded excitedly to Alpha Rylee, proving a point further.. "Exactly. Hunter's Law. Because they wrote the rules."

"They wrote the rules for peace!" King Anaforo, a Necromancer, was going to be a problem, Clay understood this before he even came.

Hunter's killed, and Necromancers got their energy from the dead.

"I tried to send my son to school so he could understand the ways of the humans. The Hunter's got a whiff of this and sent a Dawn, someone he had no chance against, to kill him." In the end, it played into my favor. Everly fell for my son.

For once, he did something right without meaning too. I'm almost proud.

"None of us have a chance against the Hunters. That's why they're the... well the Hunters." Queen Seralphira rubbed her chin, narrowing her eyes. She looked like she was about to flip to Clay's cause any minute now. Her son stood up and brushed his suit down, and then sat back down. Vampires were the only species to elect their council leaders. The rest were either heirs or the oldest known one of their kind.

"The this isn't about the Hunters. We need to destroy the humans. They are killing us, all of us." Clay held out a small pistol, it wasn't even scary. It was a B.B gun. He held up bullets. "This is a silver pelt. What would happen if a human shot this at you, Rylee?"

He gulped. "I'd die."

Clay nodded. All he needed was a WOTS. Didn't matter over what cause.

He held up a diamond, shaped into a bullet. Metal wound itself around it to make it usable with the gunpowder. "Queen Lorelei, what about this?"

Queen Lorelei scoffed. "It'd kill me. But A) Humans are to dumb to try and shoot off a diamond bullet. And 2) Humans are to greedy to shoot off a diamond bullet. I'm the top of the food chain." She stretches her legs out, completely unladylike. He hated wagtails like her.

Clay snarled at her. "Sharks beg to differ."

She snarled right on back, her too blue eyes almost peering into his soul. "Sharks can't speak and don't have thumbs."

Clay chuckled pointing at her. "You make a point. What about this one."

He held out a Lotus Flower in his gloved hand and everyone stumbled back, everyone except Lorelei. She just smiled wickedly. Lotus flowers would kill her to, but Lotus flowers didn't grow underwater 500 miles in the middle of nowhere.

"And what will this kill?" He asked.

"Everyone." King Trelpses, a weeper, breathes out, something silver falling from his eyes. Like tears, tears of everyone's fears. If you drink their tears, you will either see your biggest fear, or your enemies greatest weakness. They were a type of witch, but involuntarily. They weren't even true supernaturals, more human than any of us, but they were still needed to be kept from humanity.

Clay nodded solemnly. "Everyone will get something out of this war."

King Trelpses wiped his eyes and put on a strong front. Weepers cried easy. "What would I get? I don't have a problem with humans. Or Hunters."

I didn't know what he would get out of it. Maybe... "Love. You don't have to stay away from love because everyone will know what you are and you don't have to worry about the Hunters killing someone you love."

King Trelpses nodded. It was a long shot, but the idea seemed to make sense.

"King Anaforo, this war would mean bodies, deaths, more power for you and your kind. Queen Lorelei, humans pollute your waters, we could end that! Alpha Rylee, how many forests  are going to burn and be cut down before you realize you're running out of room." Clay looked desperately at all of them. "How many of you are going to die from the Hunters that protect these monsters before we take a stand!?"

Soon, the whole room, even Queen Lorelei, were nodding and shouting against the humans. And the Hunters. Everyone except Rylee it seemed.

Clay walked to his wife, Alexzandria. She smiled as she put her arms around his neck. "You didn't tell me about the... Hunter." She choked on the disgusting title.

Clay kissed her lightly. "I didn't want to worry you. Can you do me a favor, dear?"

She nodded. Clay knew that she'd always nod. And he'd always nod for her too. "Take this, find a way to sneak into Sovereign Pack, and make sure Arlis's mate doesn't become a full werewolf."

She widened her eyes as he handed her a vile of human blood. "I thought Rylee was going to do it?" She asked. Clay could see that she was worried over what he was asking her to do.

Clay looked to Rylee's chair but Rylee was gone. Coward. "I don't trust him. Only thing werewolves hate more than each other are people who aren't werewolves, especially ones like me that try to give them orders."

Alexzandria grabbed the vile from Clay. "Clayton, how would I even sneak in?"

Clay licked his teeth. "Go talk to King Anaforo."

Alexzandria nodded. "Will do."

EVERLY

I tried my best to stay silent in the car. I was normally pretty good at being quiet, but something about Dallas not wanting me to talk, made me want to talk a lot.

I whistled the Kill Bill whistle eight too many times. Dallas pressed on the gas and the car lurched forward, making the seat belt pull uncomfortably against my chest.

"Do you mind!?" He snapped angrily.

I shook my head. "No. I'm good." I whistled the toon again, and he groaned, clenching his fist.

"If you don't stop, I'm going to throw you out of the car." He threatened, and I didn't have a single doubt that he wouldn't.

I shut my mouth. I pulled out my phone and plugged in the aux, chuckling as Chill Bill played through the speakers.

Dallas looked at me, dead in the eyes, ripped my phone out of my hand, rolled down the window, and threw it out of the car.

"HEY! STOP THE CAR!" I screeched, slapping his arm as hard as I could.

He shook his head. "No, I'm good." He replied curtly, giving me a sweet, fake smile, like the one I gave him moments before.

I opened up the door to jump out, and Dallas sped up, now pushing fifty five. I didn't care. I'd still jump. YOLO, even if it is for centuries.

He grabbed onto my arm and glared at me. "Shut the door." He ordered.

"What is your problem!" I yelled as I shut the door.

He slowed the car once we got closer to Colin's street. "You. You're my problem." He growled lowly.

I threw my hands up, scoffing. "It's not my fault I got an Ash Rose!"

He parked the car on the side of the road, a block away from Colin's house. He turned to me, one arm over the leather seat. "I know that! I'm mad because you didn't tell me! You lied to me! You went behind my back!" He shook his head and got out of the car, slamming the door so hard it dented. "You purposefully withheld information from me."

"You would have tried to kill him!" I shouted back.

He raised his eyes. "Did I try to kill him after you told me that you guys had an Ash Rose? No. So don't tell me what I would have done." I tried to argue back, but he held a hand up. "No. This conversation is done. Don't even talk to me."

Okay then, Mr. Bossy pants.

I walked ahead of him by a hundred yards, determined to give Colin at least a little heads up before I got there. Maybe he could sense me like I could sense him.

I turned into his driveway and met the cold gaze of someone who drove my family mad. Someone who's very purpose on this earth was to terrorize me and the people I cared about. Someone who went above and beyond to end the Dawns.

Clay Gold glared at me and my brother as we strolled onto their property, much more casual then we felt.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "You broke down my door." Clay stated.

I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I did."

Colin stepped outside, the sun shining just right against him that he almost looked angelic, like a fallen servant of any god. I guess in some religions he would be considered a fallen angel.

But to me demons were more fun. And that's what he was when he smirked at me, his eyes like his father's, cold and calculating. He tugged at my heart strings without him even trying too and I relished in the forbidden feeling I held.

But I knew better than to easily fall into a demon's gaze. I shut my eyes and refused to look at him, instead watching every breath his father made in the cold December air.

"Doors are expensive, don't you know?" Clay stated, looking down at the door that nobody had bothered to pick up, splinters littering the ground like hay.

I shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. I'm not paying it."

He widened his eyes, smiling at me. "Is that a nice way to treat your father-in-law."

I sucked in a breath so sharp it hurt, I took an involuntary step back and Dallas wrapped his arms around me. "If you try anything to hurt my sis-"

"Relax kiddo, I'm not going to do anything. I'm not like your kind." He glared. "I want to help."

My chest felt calm but my head was swimming, full of nightmares and thoughts the Devil would relish in. I trusted Colin but never in a million universes would I trust Clay Gold. I bent over, almost puking at the thought of him knowing about me and Colin.

"How? HOW DO YOU KNOW!" Colin yelled, plainly as shocked as me.

"Because I'm not stupid, son. I had security footage installed in my office while you were in Mexico. I never told you."

He saw... he saw me and Colin? I ran my hands over my face, groaning. This wasn't supposed to happen, not like this.

"Do you know what happened to my sister!?" Dallas yelled, making the moment more exciting and chaotic than it already was.

Cold hands wound themselves around me, and I looked up to see Colin taking me inside, carefully stepping over the broken down door. Not that I needed a knight in shining armor, but in that moment he was my Prince, my rescuer.

I couldn't walk, I couldn't think, I'm surprised I was breathing.

"Everly... Dear, what's wrong?" I instantly cringed over his pet name, but I loved it anyways.

"He knows." I muttered. "What if he tells someone? What if someone else hears and-"

He put his hands on my cheeks and made me look at him, his eyes peering into mine with confidence even though I knew he had to be freaking out on the inside. "I will kill him before he tells someone else, okay? I don't like him anyways, it'll be a win-win situation."

"Kill me, son? Hardly. And please, you don't have to worry about me. Actually... I thought Dawns didn't worry in the first place." Clay had joined us in the living room and I really just wanted him to leave.

I wanted to walk out the house and never come back. But having Colin here gave me a sense of bravery. "What do you know about my mom and my sister? And Moira?" I asked, remembering Felix's niece.

"And Astrid... and Serafina." Clay continued. "A lot of people are going missing. Colin's mother, Alexzandria, is on her way to pick up Colin's sister as we speak."

So this wasn't just a Hunter's problem? "What's happening. Do you know who killed Felix? Felix said you two had a truce." Might as well throw it out there.

"I doubt Felix told you." Clay shot a look to Colin, who grabbed my hand and held it a little tighter than normal, but I was fine with it. I accepted the pain versus him not being there. "But I'll bite. I had a truce with Felix for two reasons. 1) He is powerful and stronger than I am, and 2) because him, your father, and I used to be best friends."

I didn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. So I didn't. Sure the signs were there, why we hated each other but never attacked. Why Clay came to my family to ask for help when he could have went to any family, especially a family that was weaker than him. It made sense. But I didn't want it too.

Apparently neither did Dallas. "You're lying. My father would never trust you. Neither would Felix."

He frowned. "Your father is a respectable man, an honorable man. Why do you think that there are no relationships between the species as friends, that is a stupid assumption? Guess where Constance is?"

This one wasn't my fault. At least I don't think. Apparently I'm a lot worse at keeping secrets than I thought. I looked at Colin, one of the secrets I couldn't keep.

Dallas shrugged. "She could be anywhere from Quebec to Texas." He didn't see it.

Clay shrugged. "Young people, so naive. She's at Sovereign Pack Territory helping out a friend. A werewolf."

Dallas believed that a lot faster than he believed that dad was friends with Clay. "Werewolves are different." Dallas threw the idea out there, cringing right after it came out. "I mean... they're just... she's... you know what, no, I'm not defending myself to you. Werewolves don't kill people as often as you guys do. Werewolves are respectable, honorable."

"Remus Lupin is a perfect example." I whispered to Colin, who pulled me into his chest and chuckled. His laugh made me feel the way hot chocolate did on a cold night.

"You're right. He's awesome. But thanks for sticking up for me." He teased, nipping at my ear and making me laugh.

For a moment it was just us, the universe had already exploded and the last star had died. For a second we were no longer blinks in time, but days compared to a supernova. And then Dallas threw his hands up and said, "Fuck it, explain how you knew my dad," And instantly ruined the moment. "It's better than watching that." He cringed at me and Colin, his blue eyes holding disgust.

Good. I didn't want him to watch anyways. I faced back to Colin and laughed, embarrassment as well as pride filling my stomach with butterflies.

"Felix and Kasparov were always older than us, your dad and I. By a long shot. We all lived on the same block when we were kids. By this point, Kaspar and Felix were already a hundred and something, but you know what they say about supernaturals... we never really mature." He smirked, remembering better times. "Your dad and Kasparov were always Hunters, from childhood. They were hunting this vampire, I can't even remember his name, and the vamp went after me. Felix came and saved me, I was only like seventeen, your father might've been sixteen. They bit me and well... you know how the Hunters roll. Humans musn't know. So I left my family and lived with Felix for about 50 years."

I turned to Colin and found myself glaring. "You knew this, didn't you?"

He shrugged. "Sorry?"

"It wasn't until we all split ways and I ran my own coven, Felix grew more and more powerful, your dad had you kids that we started hating each other. I started to realize that it was their fault that I was like this, and they started to realize that I was a monster." He didn't sugar coat it. Friends grew apart.

"But they wouldn't hate you..." Dallas said. "So what did you do?"

Clay's jaw tensed. "Story for a different time."

The familiar chorus of, "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down played and both Dallas and I made scared eye-contact.

"Just tell dad that Clay doesn't know anything. Leave out... everything else... for now." Dallas nodded to my phone and I answered it.

"Hey... dad." I sounded suspicious. I know I did. There was no way I didn't.

"Eve... we have problem." My dad coughed and I stood off of the leather couch, walking to Dallas and holding the phone up to both our ears. "Are you with your brother and Connie?"

I shook my head and then realized that he couldn't see me. "No... Connie isn't here but Dal is."

He sighed tiredly. "Becker can't find them."

If Dallas hadn't of been standing there I would have fallen to my knees. "What do you mean he cant find them. He's Becker Reinheart, he... dad he has too."

His voice cracked on the other end as he spoke. "Baby I know, he's trying but he can't. Something is too strong even for Becker."

I shook my head in protest. "NO! THAT'S NOT RIGHT! Nothing! Is stronger than Becker!" Becker had once made a church building's glass break and then all the glass pieces fell to the ground in sand in ten seconds. He once made Kaspar bow to Arlis just for the heck of it with a single spell.

You didn't just hide from Becker. The only way to hide from him would be to die, and even then the odds were iffy. He's found a dead person before.

"Are they..."

"No. I'd feel it. There's no way they're gone." Dad responded and I nodded. "I think I know what it is though, who it is."

I felt for the blade tucked into the waistband of my jeans. "Who?" I growled. I growled so deeply Alpha Arlis Barron would be proud.

"I'm thinking it's Becker's father." The whole room went still, even the dust in the vicinity seemed to freeze.

"I thought... Becker, Constance, and Alpha Arlis killed him. I remember the stories, dad. Becker used his magic, Constance used her dagger, and Arlis used his blood." It's a story that has been passed through the generations, and I wasn't about ready to change what I learned from years of History.

It couldn't have been Becker's father. "Witches are a whole new category, Everly. Make sure to tell Kora to be careful with little Zali. We'll keep loo-"

"Put Becker on the phone." I didn't ask.

The phone rustled and it sounded too loud against my ears, but I couldn't have cared less at that moment. I shot a glance to Clay who was indeed... terrified by Becker's name. Might as well play off of that.

"Hello?" Becker's sweet and soft voice filtered through the phone, sounding so swift and elegant even over an electronic device.

"WHAT THE HELL, BECKER!" I yelled, earning a crazed look from Clay.

Becker sounded like he was crying, and guilt washed over me in waves. "I'm so sorry, Eve. I didn't... I tried." He was broken.

"Beck... It's okay," It wasn't okay, but it's not his fault. "It's not your fault." I said quietly. "Just get my dad and my uncle home safe, alright?" Easy task. "I was kidding when I yelled."

Becker gulped. "I don't know if I can get myself home safe, but I'll... I almost said I'll die trying but if I die trying I won't really have completed my task, huh?" My little witch's brains were mush. "I can't do this anymore. I thought it was over."

Nothing was over. Our problems just started.